India has one of the fastest growing IT sectors in the world, with a 15.5% YoY growth in FY22. One of the major drivers of this growth have been IT specific SEZ’s and STPI hubs across various cities. In North India, the major IT hubs have been the NCR (Gurgaon and Noida), as well as the Chandigarh Tricity (Mohali and Panchkula) and other cities such as Jaipur and Lucknow. Tier 2 markets have emerged as an attractive alternative to major markets such as the NCR, due to lower costs of the talent pool, office leases, power and transportation costs. Mohali and Panchkula are among the top 10 cities in India after six Tier-I locations in the IT sector, with a large and established educational base to provide the human capital needed by the IT sector.
Choosing the right location and office space for a business is a monumental decision for any company. Here we evaluate Mohali and Panchkula in Chandigarh Tricity, and why these two markets are considered among the best IT office locations in North India:
- Mohali
Mohali lies in Punjab to the south of Chandigarh and is an established IT hub with a large presence of IT majors such as Infosys, Teleperformance, TaskUs, Pearce Services, Congruex among others. It has a large number of educational hubs such as Panjab University, Chitkara University, ISB, Plaksha University etc which provide a massive talent pool for the IT industry, from the three states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. As far as connectivity goes, the Chandigarh International Airport is accessed from Mohali itself, while a dedicated railway station and highways connect it well to Delhi, Shimla and other cities. There is around 2.5 million sft of IT SEZ space in the city, with over 4 million sft of non-SEZ IT office space, among the highest levels of supply for Tier 2 cities in the country.
- Panchkula
Panchkula in Haryana lies to the east of Chandigarh, and is a planned city similar to Chandigarh and Mohali. It has excellent international connectivity via the Chandiagrh International Airport located around 30 minutes away in Mohali, as well as highways connecting it to Delhi, Shimla etc. While there are no universities within Panchkula itself, it’s proximity to Chandigarh and Mohali ensure that is no disadvantage in terms of a talent pool for the IT industry. The major IT hub for this city is the Sector 22 IT park, promoted by HSIIDC, the Haryana Govt development agency. Some of the top companies and start-ups in the IT park of Panchkula are Bursys, Amazon, Piegon Media Pvt Ltd, Wave Infotech, Pixel Softwares, etc. While Panchkula does not offer any SEZ space, there is around 2 million sft of existing and upcoming non-SEZ IT space in the city.
While both cities have their own pros and cons, the IT industry as a whole has preferred Mohali largely, due to integrated development of the office, retail and residential development of the city, and better air, road and rail connectivity. The major hubs for the industry are Sectors 74-75, Sector 82 and Sector 66 Mohali.
The Chandigarh Tricity as a whole offers an excellent option for a hub and spoke model for IT companies, with the hub being the NCR. Reach out to us at Excelsior India for professional guidance for your office space requirements in the market!